Untitled
by Kei6
Summary: Updated 4/17/02 Magic, science... And a girl with a calling. This is an alternate movie plot that has a lot parallels, but no baby! More of a personal adventure, but of course there is Jareth! Plezzze review!
1. Prolouge

Last Update 3/2/02   


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**Purpose**

This is my first attempt at fan fiction, let alone fiction! Please send me reviews! I'm a glutton for punishment! But this is my little Labor of Love, so don't be too harsh!! ~_^ 

Disclaimer: I own everything except Jareth and the Labyrinth (The two best parts!!! sheesh). 

I hope you enjoy!   


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**Prologue:**

_There is Magic in the air._

**Who's there?**

_Can you feel it?_

**What?**

_The Magic._

**Who are you?**

_What you sense_

**I see only Darkness.**

_Is that all?_

**No**

_What else?_

**I feel the Nothingness.**

_Can you feel IT?_

**What?**

_The Magic_

**No**   
  


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'Why does everything wrong happen to me?' A tall brunette slammed her phone receiver down with a sour face. 

"You've got cliché written all over you, Cathryn." 

Cryn softly snorted. "Thanks Jack, you really know how to grind salt in a wound." But instead of looking up, she kept her slightly frosty composure and briefly smoothed out her black pantsuit in the process of sitting down. 

The older man could only hesitate at her slightly extreme response. 

"Hey, there was some humor to that statement, if not only to crack a smile on that marble face of yours." Jack hated to see her slip into such a mood. It was a mood she would slump into for _awhile._ So as not to see that again, he expend the effort to steer her towards happier thoughts. He tried a more sincere approach. 

"In all honesty, I am sorry about the account." Jack added. "You need…" 

"A new life, and nothing short of it." Cryn sincerely interrupted. But it really wasn't just the lost account that was bothering her. That was just another feather, another piece of straw. It was the annoying coincidence that every little thing in the world just had to work against her. And the recent insomnia wasn't helping either. But of course one must realize that things could be worse. She swiveled about in her office chair with a slight annoyance to face the filing cabinet behind her desk. She absently brushed a brown lock away from her face, which had somehow escaped its elastic bondage, with one hand while retrieving the lost account's file from the drawer with the other. 'Sometimes I wish I really had something to complain about.' 

She sighed and continued aloud. "I just can't stand people. Sometimes I wonder how I have gotten along these whole two decades of my life, and wonder constantly about the next seven that modern science has promised me." 

Jack gave a stiff smile as she swiveled back to meet his gaze. "A kindred cynic till the end. I knew I hired you for some reason." 

Cryn discarded the useless paperwork into the trash before responding dryly, "I think it was actually pity." She looked up at him, her hands now folded just under her face, with her elbows resting on the wooden desk. Her eyes betrayed the front of coldness to an underlying hurt. 

'Let's not continue along that logic...' Jack mentally sighed. 'This girl is in borderline need of Prozac.' 

"Why not go back to school? You had a good thing going for you." He gestured with his whole body as he continued, "A strong, smart head. Dreams of Space and a voracious interest in the Unknown that soaked up all that science mumbo jumbo." He closed the distance between them and ended with a soft, parental punch to Cryn's shoulder. 

She gave a slight gruff in physical response, but still briefly pondered the idea. To tell the truth, Cryn had thought about going back to school and finishing up a B.S. or something. Nothing except the proud title of underachiever stood in her way. But it all just seemed so pointless. 

'All I need is motivation,' she thought. 

"You've got that look again." Jack softly poked. 

Cryn finally gave into a small smile. "Cliché is my middle name." 

"Go home, its already four and there is really nothing more to do today." Jack shrugged at the clock. He turned back to her with another statement at the tip of his tongue, but stopped at her new demeanor. 

Cryn had already gotten up, but her face had fallen a little, and she seemed rather uncomfortable. 

'Here it comes,' Jack mentally groaned. 'I hope she has some sort of plan.' 

"Listen, I don't know how to tell you this…" She started with a hand movement. 

"You need to figure some things out and I probably won't see you tomorrow or even next year?" he questioned. 

Cryn visibly relaxed and smiled, genuinely. "How'd you know?" 

Jack shrugged. She continued to smile at his appearance. He wasn't the kind of person she typically thought of being successful at interior design. He seemed more of a rustic, hunting, cabin man. 'But I guess that's the kind of look people want in Northern Michigan. Well...' she corrected after sourly remembering the most recent account, _'most_ people anyway.' 

"Listen, I really appreciate you giving me this job. I especially don't want to seem ungrateful... it's just…" 

"That you know that Interior Design is not what you want to do for a living, and maybe, _just maybe_, you don't really know what you want to do because you are only 20?" Jack interrupted. "Here, I kind of foresaw this day and thought that you might need some road money." He handed her a very pregnant envelope in exchange for a hug. 

She really didn't really need the money, her parents' life insurance was more than adequate to sustain her for a while, but the act of giving the money probably helped Jack with the good-bye. He hated good byes. 

"I will visit your parents and tell them how you're doing," Jack stated softly. 

Cryn hesitated again but smiled politely. "Thank you. Make sure their roses are watered." 

"I will." 

Cryn then gathered what little she had actually installed in her cubicle and left for her apartment. Jack watched her leave with the concerned look of a parent. 'She'll be okay.' He smirked inwardly at the self assuring thought. But he did know... she'd be okay. 


	2. Purpose ch. 1

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**Chapter 1**   
**6 months later**   


On the other side of the continental United States, Cathryn Rivers started a new life out in Peach Springs, Arizona. Just recently her twenty-first birthday passed unknowingly to almost everyone, even herself. Jack had sent her a card with some more money and another cliché phrase. She smiled at his kindness. It wasn't like her real parents would have sent her anything if they couldn't brag about it or make her feel guilty. But Cryn was in the process of putting her old life, including her parents, behind her. Though she was definitely happier after the drastic change she had decided upon, she never lost her somewhat dark and cynical sense of humor. Which she realized, gave her a more, realistic point of view, if not a slightly smug one. But it did offer a wealth of insight. 

She realized, after moving to Arizona (or at least the car trip over), that what everyone meant when they told her about her potential and how "she had her entire life ahead of her," was that the raw potential of a young person's life, especially if in some way gifted, is always more alluring than the reality of choice, responsibility and commitment. She would smile at those people and nod her head appropriately. The "advice" everyone always felt inclined to give, especially if it was given to a younger person, always humored her. Not to say she wasn't happy to receive another's opinion on an asked matter, but sometimes people like to hear themselves talk or just take themselves too seriously. Yet, her understanding did offer more peace of mind, oddly enough. The understanding of these people and their motives for their _advice_, even if she didn't agree with their behavior, really put the proverbial 'big picture' into focus. 

Besides, there was no point in trying to impress the ultimately faceless crowd of one's peers (or one's parents' peers) with one's own life. Cryn was determined to live her life for herself. It wasn't her fault she didn't know what to do with it. But she had gone through the phase of trying to please others, of trying to do what was precisely expected, and emerged a better, if not slightly bitter, person. It had ended roughly a year before her parents crashed. Probably because the pressure her parents put on, combined with their double standards, that pushed her to the realize that (unless one was lucky) the only person interested in the well being of one's self... is one's self. And no amount of self pity was to change that (she discovered this by experimentation). She now had a very laid back attitude though debatably overly laid back, that, at the very least, allowed her to appreciate the smaller things in life. And try to discover something for the long term, though abit slowly. 

So, while noticing the slight hypocrisy of doing what was debatably expected of her and enrolling in 12 online credits from Arizona U, she took a simple roll over job at a local tourist trap located just down the street from her new humble abode. 

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'I can't believe I'm out here,' Cryn mused once again as she gazed at the distant gold peaking on the horizon. She gave a slight jump to readjust her backpack. 'Everything is so surreal and… exotically beautiful.' 

She let her feet guide her to the Hualapai Burial Grounds Gift Shop. It wasn't too early, the fall sunrise was beginning to peak relatively late, but the area still had a sense of timeless twilight about it. 

'Perhaps another world holds this quality. I just wish I could have been born a few hundred years later in human civilization. Just enough time to let Earth be the home of a space traveling species, but still leave some major exploring left for me to do.' She smiled and gazed up at the rapidly fading stars. 'Still, the desert is so much like another world. I just might be where I want to be.' 

The only thing disturbing in her life now was the increasing bouts of insomnia. But since her life was pretty low key, the lack of sleep wasn't affecting her too much. And it was nothing compared to the stress she had when her parents were alive. 

Her mind wandered to her hometown, and her parents. 'If only we could have resolved our problems before the accident.' She kicked a stone as she drew nearer to the gift shop, but continued out loud. "Yeah right, and have them put aside their self-righteous, prideful egos?" She made a sour face. 

'A piece of work they were.' 

"Cathryn, dear, You must not crinkle your pretty face so. It will give you wrinkles early." The woman tending to the small gift shop peeked out of the front door upon Cryn's arrival. 

"I know Mrs. Flybird. I 'm just… reminiscing." Cryn cocked her head a bit at Mrs. Flybird's presence. "I thought I was opening today." She opened the squeaky screen door and proceeded to her 'cubby' behind the front counter. She felt like a grade schooler and smiled at the thought. She was fond of her backpack. Though it was kind of beat up, it was the one possession she had that always felt… familiar to her. She straightened herself and her khakis as Mrs. Flybird started to talk again. 

"Oh, dearie, I just felt like tidying up a bit, and I need you to close tonight. Is that okay?" 

Cryn only nodded, but mentally rolled her eyes. 'I like mornings, but I don't like them _that_ much as to wake up unnecessarily. Especially when I actually fell asleep last night.' She sighed off her annoyance and started about her duties. 

Later that morning, after gazing at Cryn, the old woman prompted, "You know what you need?" 

Cryn gave a sarcastic smirk and twisted a thought through her head. 'Something to end my self pity and mediocre life that has no better future than to become slave to a desk or service worker to the very society that puts me in this dismal situation?' She turned to meet the dark-haired woman's gaze. 

"A man," Mrs. Flybird confidently continued. 

"Oh," was all that Cryn had to say. 

"I mean it dearie. You'll be happier when you have a person to comfort, protect, and provide for you." Mrs. Flybird gave a Cryn a grand motherly glance that had that 'I know 'cause I'm old' look. 

Cryn knew that the old woman sincerely believed that. She herself didn't throw out the theory entirely, but then again took it for what it was worth; an old schooled woman's musings. She raised her eyebrows and had a slight gleam in her eye as she voiced a spontaneous thought. "I don't think I like men that way, anyway…" 

Mrs. Flybird popped her head up from behind a shelf with one ear slightly turned toward Cryn. "What did you say Deary? I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you over here." 

Cryn knew she physically heard but just smiled. "I said that I don't think I've met the right kind of man anyway." She flicked some dust off of her emerald green tee shirt and continued, "Besides, there is a good chance that this Mr. Wonderful doesn't even exist for me. I think my problem is my indecision with what I want to do with my life. I haven't really found anything yet that has tickled my fancy." Cryn walked around the store until she was next to her boss. She helped her settle a new box of tour books under the bottom shelf. 

Mrs. Flybird didn't voice doubt on Cryn's self analysis, but she did seem slightly disappointed that her solution wasn't immediately taken in as the ultimate solution. 

'Whatever.' Cryn thought. 

For the rest of that morning Cryn took turns with Mrs. Flybird at the cash register, and helped the first early risers to come into the store, however, since it was mid fall, there were few customers in the late morning. Mrs. Flybird had prepared her a snack that day, and so while she munched on the bag of trail mix Cryn opened one of her class books she had brought. She glanced down at her randomly chosen physics book and opened to the first chapter of review and applications. Soon after her eyes involuntarily glazed over, allowing her to drift in thought. 

'I need a... a mission. Something that I can lose my pride for. Something that I can believe in.' Cryn continued mentally while setting her book on her lap and grabbing a stress ball and began to absentmindedly toss it around in her hands. 'I don't entirely doubt the concept of Mrs. Flybird's 'Man.' But there must be more than that to a solution in life. Why do I feel this longing, this... this need for accomplishment, for... approval... for self validation?' She actually knew, and it somehow everything always led back to them. 

She snorted softly. 'Never once did you guys have anything to say but disapproval. Disapproval of me and how terrible your materialistic lives had become. And you wondered why we never had that parents/daughter bond. I tried guys. I tried until I determined for myself that both of you had created your own hell to to live in.' 

The most disturbing thought was how much she had picked up from them. 

'Like parents like child, eh?' Her subconscious blatantly interjected. 

"Uuhg!" Cryn grunted. 'Why can I never escape them?' 

The voice of a tourist broke her train of thought. 

He was tall, blonde and had curiously, but not unattractively, angled features. It almost looked like he wore a faint splash of theatrical paint. His eyes, though not unattractive, were the most prominent. They had... well... they had translucent and sweeping markings from his eyes to his temples. But it was just light enough to see, since it seemed to actually originate beneath the skin. 'How odd.' Cryn thought. 

"Ma'am? Can you tell me how much this is?" His voice was soothingly deep with a twinge of English accent. She furrowed her brow at his unlikely hairstyle of blonde madness. 

'Ah... that explains it.' she thought. 'Europeans.' 

He brought her out of her thoughts again by holding up the object in question. She hadn't remembered shelving it, but it seemed familiar. It was a water crystal, like the kind found in most gift shops. Although instead of a cheap plastic space stuffer, or the moderately nice type common to a gift store, this one was delicately crafted with what seemed to be an inward glow. It looked especially expensive, even from her vantage. 

Cryn knew that what the tourist had found had no place in a rinky-dink shop as the one she worked in. He held it a bit higher, catching the rays of the sun through the window. He gazed upon it and then once again looked at Cryn. 

He had a curious look upon his face, but his expression allowed only his slightly pointed teeth to peek through their thin-lipped bondage, and eluded nothing to what he was actually thinking. Although it _did_ make Cryn feel like there was more than just the water crystal he was interested in. But that wasn't her problem. She turned her attention back to the gorgeous crystal. She again mused at how it seemed so odd and yet so familiar at the same time. 'Strange...' She motioned him over, if not to pretend a to give him a price, but for her to study it more closely. As he glided towards the counter she couldn't take her eyes off the globe. 

It's odd quality seemed to increase exponentially as the crystal was brought nearer to her. It seemed to almost pull towards Cryn. An unknown gravitational pull tugged at her mind toward it's crystalline structure. Its base was covered in ruddy sand, speckled with microscopic rhinestones that sporadically glittered and some other sandy colored shades. As the base met with the crystal, the water bent the light of the sand to a smooth rust red color, with some gray mottled objects immersed in the center of the sphere. The man tipped it over in search of a tag and the motion stirred the light catching particles inside, giving them a life of their own. Though they floated about with inaccurate water slowness. 

When the man reached the counter the globe had been righted and she could now clearly see the sphere in detail. Her forehead creased a bit upon her realization that the sand's jewels were not actually rhinestones, but were of a more authentic breed of gem. The gray objects were a construction of walls, in a maze like fashion, with meticulous detailing of the surreal environment. There was a structure in the middle, a castle of some sort, but very odd in it's design. Everything looked as though a microscope would revel more detail, and she could hardly believe such immaculate intricacy. And though there was a soft glow emanating from the center, in front of the tourist's dark royal blue shirt, the globe seemed to capture a whole world at night. 

Mesmerized by the crystal, Cryn didn't notice the gradual but accelerating blur of the gift shop around her. She didn't understand where it had come from, but it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. It really was a miniature world. Ironically, all that was hers began to disappear, but Cryn barely felt herself fall. It was slow, unnatural, and almost insensible. And though her body reflexed, her mind never let go of the image of the crystal. Even as everything went black.   
  
  


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_There is Magic in the air._

**What? Where am I?**

_Can you feel it?_

**Who are you?**

_What do you sense?_

**I see Darkness.**

_And without your eyes_

**Nothingness.**

_Is that all?_

**What else can there be?**

_Everything_

**Who are you!?**

_What you must sense_

**I can't SEE anything!**

_Do you want to see?_

**OF COURSE!**

_Sense and see_

**How?**

_Can you feel it?_

**The magic?**

_The Magic_

**I don't know**   


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	3. Purpose ch. 2

  


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**Chapter Two:**   


"Ma'am? Are you feeling well?" 

"Humm…ahh…what?" Cryn lifted her surprisingly sore head up from the counter. She had no idea what just happened. There was, however, the strongest feeling of dejavu. 

'It was them.' Her mind told her. 

'What? Who is them?' She asked back in a curiously different mental voice. 

"Finally coming around I see." A British accented voice broke her mental recovery. 

'Oh, the tourist.' She blinked away her thoughts and came up with a quick excuse, "Yeah, I have, umm…narcolepsy. It hits in the most unwanted of times." She plastered on a perfected fake smile while straightening herself. She hoped it was convincing, but from the intensity of the man's gauging stare, she doubted it. 

Then it hit her. There was something missing from the picture. Something important. She remembered the tourist in front of her, her book on her lap…but there was something else. 'I hate my mind.' Pushing the thought aside, she asked, "I'm terribly sorry, did you need me for some reason?" 

The man gave a strange, humored expression, but answered, "Actually no, I observed you collapse on the counter and came to see if you needed any aid." 

"Oh, well thank you, but I am fine, I just need to go take my medication." She tried to continue the lie, but almost half-heartedly. There was this nagging sense at the back of her head that seemed to point to the man as the cause of her…episode? And definitely the culprit who was putting her into, what was becoming, an uncomfortable situation. 

"I see." Was all he had to say. But it was the way he said it. 

'Is this person playing with me? Who does he think he is?' At this she changed gears and became defensive. "Thank you for your concern, if there isn't anything else…" Cryn was almost short with the man. 

"No, and _thank_ you My Dear." He gracefully smiled and left the gift shop with a slight breeze. 

Cryn rolled her eyes at his use of "My Dear" and started to assess herself and her surroundings. Still, she couldn't help but replay the tourist incident in her mind. His exiting smile especially rubbed her wrong. In a strange way his smile had been an attractive one but the curves belied a predator and an intelligent one at that. And though the smile was not meant to be frightening, it was worse. It was mocking. 

She never felt so good to have someone leave. 'Wow buddy, in an hour you managed to rank yourself up with my parents.' She glanced up at the clock. 

Whoa. It was late afternoon! The sun would set in less than an hour. 'What happened? _Do_ I have narcolepsy? She looked about the shop, but there was no one about. Hopefully Mrs. Flybird hadn't seen her. Not that she particularly cared about the job, but twelve00 bucks an hour to just sit around is not a opportunity one passes up while in school. Still, it should still be morning, noon at the latest. 'What happened?' 

'Had he been there the whole time?' Cryn thought. 'I don't like it. Not at all.' 

For the rest of her shift (which was only an hour) Cryn stocked shelves and busied herself with inventory. All the while trying to remember the missing hours in her day. To her, it seemed as if the day went from late morning to late afternoon in an instant. Something wasn't right. She contemplated seeing a psychiatrist, but decided against it since, he or she, would most likely prescribe a straight jacket. She smirked at the thought. 

Finally, she closed the shop and headed home. 

On her way out, Mrs. Flybird's grandson came running from down the street. She liked the boy, his name was John but to everyone that knew him his name was Little Cat. Perhaps it was because he was so nimble and always landed on his feet, but Cryn knew it was for his curiosity and demeanor. He was just like a cat, mystique and all. 

"Cryn!" he called. He was only six, and was all tired out by the time he reached her. "There…was…a.... shaman in town. Did…you…see him?" he said between pants. 

She had no trouble reading Cat's mind. "Yeah, I did." 

"No one believes me. They say it's my imagination. They say I think too much about legends and the superstitions. But I know. I know 'cause I could sense him. Did you? Did you sense him?" 

"What!" Cryn said urgently. An impulse from the depths of her sub-conscious. 

"I could sense him, I knew he was here. All day. And then he was gone. Not like most people. But all at once." 

The kid was excited and apprehensive at the same time. She surprisingly felt the same way. It disturbed her though, the way Cat brought such a reaction out with his questions. Not to mention the total lack of consciousness in her day and a suspicious encounter with a 'Shaman.' That feeling of dejavu just wouldn't die. She felt so tired all of a sudden. 

"Well, he's gone now. We will just keep this to ourselves, ok? Some people just won't understand." She lightly swatted at his ebony hair, barely missing with his reflexes. 

The little boy straightened and nodded solemnly. Then added "He didn't hurt you. Did he?" 

Cryn was taken aback by the question. But as she thought about it, he hadn't hurt her, she didn't think. But that didn't mean anything. He was too unreadable. "No. He was in the store. But I…I don't really remember this afternoon." 

Cat thought about this and then asked, "Do you want me to guard you tonight?" 

Cryn chuckled. "No, I'll be fine. But you need to get home for dinner before you're late." 

He hesitated but nodded again. "I don't think it is him that is most threatening anyway. It is something else, there was something else when he was here." 

Cryn tried to accept her friend's analysis, but she had never really been into fantasy. She liked explanations for things and events. That was why she once loved science fiction so much. It was fantastical but with an explanation in terms of the sciences. It wasn't just because. 

This…situation, however, was becoming more and more impossible. Impossible and without even a notion of an explanation. The control freak in her did not like the predicament at all. 

'This still could be just one big coincidence.' She frowned as her mind rejected this rationalization. 

"Well we can't do anything else tonight, Cat. As long as nothing else strange happens, I think we'll be in the clear. At least for tonight." 

"Yeah, ok. I'll see you later… tomorrow. Bye." Cat launched off again in the direction he came from. 

Cryn just looked up at the sky and sighed. The clear sky was awash in silver lights with a backdrop of blue/black illumination. 'The desert is so beautiful.' The moon was full, perfect and bright as day. She could see the Copernicus crater and all of its sisters. 

'If only I could be there.' She sighed once more. 

The reservation behind the town stretched all the way back and along the Grand Canyon to the north. 'The Canyon would be gorgeous right now.' She toyed with the idea for a night ride for a minute but decided against it for the more pressing calling of sleep. She hoped her mind would actually reward her body with some rest. 

In her apartment, which was more appropriately a room on the backside of the general store, she grabbed a quick microwave dinner and then headed for bed. As she lay down and relinquished control of her weight, her eyes fluttered only once. It was almost as if she were enchanted.   
  
  
  


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She was floating. Or at least it felt like floating. It was more of a strange buzz, resonating where she normally felt her body. Wisps of silent breeze caressed her features and prompted her eyes to focus. It was strange but she somehow knew where she was. There was no sound. Only her thoughts and a blazing display of color. She was floating in a sea of stars. Their cool, flickering light washed over her and illuminated all that was around her. 

There were enormous clouds of colored gasses, mixing and expanding, following invisible lines of gravity, that seemed so close and yet, so far away. A comet caught her attention and rushed silently past her, beyond her view. It was smaller than the very tip of her pinky finger.** I must be the size of a planet, no... bigger**. Her thoughts rang through the silence. As she turned to follow the comet's path she saw a star. But not just any star, a middle class sun. Though only the size of a giant beach ball, it was clearly defined in a fury of fiery activity. The comet looked as though it would directly hit, but narrowly swung around and was soon lost to the outer cosmos. **The time…how off it is**. 

The star silently let out a large loop of fire, which is drew back almost as voraciously as it had spawned it. She continued to gaze around her and a whole solar system reveled itself. But it was not just any solar system. It was hers. The neighborhood of Earth. As she concentrated on any object or planet, it became clear and close. She would move at her minds control. Not even the Sun affected her position. As she focused on Earth, she caressed it with a transparent hand. A wave of loss came over her.** I am alone.**

_You are?_

If she had been holding the planet, it would have been relocated to Alpha Centuri. 

**What!?**

_You believe you are alone?_

**Well, obviously not anymore!**

_Can you feel it?_

**I am too overwhelmed.**

Space disappeared. It was now only herself that she could tell was floating in the darkness. 

_Concentrate._

**I can't explain what I feel.**

_Try_

**It is so…natural but indescribable.**

_Then let yourself sense._

**I sense only darkness now.**

_You are trying to use only your eyes._

**Who are you?**

_What you sense._

**I sense a great power.**

_Power?_

**Yes, a great strength of will.**

_What else?_

**Nothing, I don't understand.**

_Can you feel it?_

**There is no magic here.**

_Magic is relative._

**I don't understand.**

_Do you want to?_

**Yes.**

_Then try to accept._

**I will try.**

  
  
  
  
  


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	4. Purpose ch. 3

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**Chapter 3**

Worried about Cryn, Little Cat decided to pay a visit after a late breakfast. When no answer came from knocking on her door, he crept in through an open window into her apartment. 

"Cathryn?" he softly called. "Are you here?" He walked to the back room to find her motionless in her bed. He became slightly alarmed. "Cathryn, wake up." He gently shook her and was relieved when she groaned. 

"Leave me bee, I just fell asleep." 

"Cryn, it's noon." 

"What?!" Groggily awake, she sat up in bed. Medium length hair impossibly tousled. The time startled her. "I swear I just went to bed!" She looked out the window. "Why is the sun up?" She couldn't understand it, but outside her window was the noonday sun. "How…" 

"Did you see the Shaman?" asked Cat. 

Cryn wasn't registering her situation, or Cat's question. There was no possible way for it to be NOON! "I…I… don't understand." Was all she could muster. Her mind was trying to make sense of the situation, going over the events of the day prior and of last night. She was just as tired as when she went to bed early last night. She finally had to take things at face value and wait for an explanation later. 

Cat grew impatient. "CRYN!" He barked. "Did you _see_ the _Shaw_-_man_!" He drawled out his last word with a child's characteristic drama. 

Cryn looked down at him with at furrowed brow. 

"No, I…I saw the… heavens." 

"It is a calling. A great spirit is calling you." 

"I don't know what it is. It always seems to be at the tip of my mind, but I lose any memory and am left with only dejavu. Besides, I can't get any sleep. The moment my head hits the pillow is the moment I am supposed to get up!" Cryn felt exhausted. 

"It travels your spirit. Your body sleeps, but not your mind." Cat nodded his head as he spoke in the way that such knowledgeable young people do when they know they are right. 

Cryn suddenly realized that there was a six year old in her room. "Cat!" 

"Uh, yeah." He sarcastically replied. 

"How…? Did you sneak in here?" 

"Uh, yeah, I was the one talking to you just a few minutes ago." He looked confused and leaned forward to take her hand. "Are you ok?" 

She smiled and squeezed his small hand. "Yeah, it's just, I don't know who I am talking to anymore. At least I don't have to work today." She relaxed. This boy has so much information. "Where do you learn about these things?" She wasn't quite convinced yet, but the man in the gift shop yesterday and the combination of these dreams just was too taxing on her to not investigate. 

"My Great Grandfather who lives near the canyon. He is a Shaman of my ancestors. He tells me our history and stuff. My parents don't believe that he is a Shaman. They just consider him a wise man with stories." 

"Could I go see him?" Cryn asked. 

"Sure, he loves it when people visit. He will be able to help understand this spirit and let you live at ease with it." Cat seemed proud of ability to help Cryn. He wanted to show off his abilities. 

"How about tonight? I will talk to your mother to see if you can come." 

Cat nearly leaped out of his skin. "Lets go now!" He shouted, getting up and jumping on Cryn's bed. 

She laughed at her little friend. "Alright, let me get dressed and washed already. I will meet you at four outside your house ok?" She laughed again at the child's excitement, and she was also charged by it. 

"Ok, see you then. Bye." Once again he was off, but this time he used the door. 

Cryn chuckled again and shook her head. She had other acquaintances in town, but after moving to the opposite side of the North American land mass, friends just don't pop out of nowhere. She liked the low stress life she had. It gave her time to read. And do the ridiculous online assignments she had to keep up with. 

She came back down to the present. 'What am I doing? I am going to see a Shaman about my bad dreams? I should be going to a shrink.' Cryn slipped her lithe form out of bed and gingerly stepped into the bathroom. 'But I guess this is cheaper. Besides, one can never get used to the Grand Canyon. I'll spend the rest of my time there.' 

She turned on the shower, and tested its temperature. While waiting for it to turn to bathing temp, she brushed her teeth. After rinsing and wiping her face clear of moisture she stared into the economically sized mirror. She looked different than she remembered. True, she hadn't looked in a mirror to seriously in a long time, but there seemed something odd about her features, even with the dark circles that had taken residence under her eyes. It unnerved her. 

The reflection staring back had the same brunette mane and greenish hazel eyes. The same pale, soft pink lips on pale skin, but there was nothing childlike to her face anymore. She reached a slender hand to touch her cheek for contrast and comfort that it was still she that gazed back at her. The light through the back window picked out the fiery highlights the Arizona sun had bestowed to her slightly wavy locks. 

She stood there, absently staring at herself until the steam of the newly warmed shower poured steamy mist onto her reflection window. Just before the mirror became too opaque, there was a flash of person superimposed upon her features. A woman Cryn thought had striking resemblance to herself, if not an older twin. Blinking, Cryn tore herself away from the mirror and disrobed for the soothing shower. Her nerves were unsettled, but her demeanor surprisingly calm. She felt out of herself, but herself. 

The blessed water on her face seemed to bring her back to a familiar norm, though she almost wanted to resist the reversion. She decided to pick up Cat early and find out some answers as soon as possible. 

***************************************************************** 

Cryn gathered her backpack and filled it with things she might need for trip to the Canyon. She wouldn't mind sleeping in her clothes if they spent the night, but she did put a couple of Nutri-grain bars in her pack, some pencils and her sketch book. She grabbed an extra hair tie, and some suntan lotion, though the bottle was almost empty.. 

They left at four, with a picnic dinner provided by Cat's mom and her permission for Cat to spend the night out there if it got late. 

Cryn had no idea what to expect.   


* * *


	5. Purpose ch. 4

* * *

  
**Chapter 4**

Per Cat's directions, they pulled up beside a cabin around six. Cat was out of the car even before the vehicle was in park and ran to the ancient, but strangely fit looking man in the cabin's doorway. The old man picked him up and started to tickle Cat with his free hand. Cat laughed and squealed until his Grandfather put him down again. Even though he looked ancient, he also seemed powerful in a way, both physically and mentally. 'Well, as close as he lives to the edge of the canyon, he must be mentally tough.' Cryn thought as she eyed the distance discrepancy behind the cabin while exiting her car. 

Cat had said that his Grandfather lived up by the canyon, but Cryn knew that the discrepancy was the start of the canyon, only seen horizontally. He lived _on_ the canyon. The first break in the ground not more than 1000 feet away. 'Sheesh' she thought, 'what with erosion and everything, why does he stay here?' 

As she was looking North, Grandfather came up behind her to answer her question. "I stay, because I have fought with the park service for my right to stay." His voice was warm, and cultured. Not quite what Cryn had in mind, but it was pleasantly surprising. 

She turned to him with a slightly puzzled look, but first apologized for not introducing herself first. "I'm sorry, my name's Cathryn, or Cryn." She paused and continued, "how'd you kn…" 

"Know that you were thinking about me so close to the canyon?" He chuckled. "Everyone who comes to see me stares at the distance between me and that wonderful canyon." He clasped her out stretched hand and continued. "You can call me Grandfather. I know you have no family left, so you can use me for a substitute." He smiled again, and Cryn felt strangely at ease. She liked this man, and trusted him though she wasn't entirely sure why. 'Well at least he'll be easy to talk to. Hopefully he is believing too.' She wanted this man…Grandfather, to help. 

They entered the rustic and natural looking cabin. There was a deerskin bench in the middle of the single room and Grandfather motioned her to have a seat. Cat seemed content in a corner, looking at some handwritten books with great interest. Grandfather went to put a teakettle on the stove in a kitchen that was simply another corner of the room, by the fireplace. As she looked about the rest of the cabin, it gave her the impression of simplistic elegance. There was a double bed in the corner, a table between her and another chair and various cabinets and pantries around the other walls. A beautifully decorated, porcupine quill box sat in the middle of the coffee table. She resisted the urge to touch and open the box, and tried to satisfy herself with only looking at it. 

"I fear my dear, that you'll have to use the outhouse instead of a bathroom. The canyon being so near and all, I couldn't put in a septic system even if I wanted to." Grandfather broke her mental studies. 

"Oh, that's fine. I couldn't see it any other way." Cryn replied. She liked the cabin. It was so cozy and…warm. It gave her an unexplained sense of ease and protection. Just like Grandfather. 

"So, why has this journey brought you here, my child?" He sauntered to an opposite chair to her and started a pipe that surprisingly smelled lovely. 

Cryn took a deep breath and decided to test the waters. She started rubbing her hands slowly out in front of her. 

"I've had some periodic episodes of insomnia. Or, at least I think I'm going to sleep, but the moment I close my eyes, it is time for me to rise again. I am left with only fleeting memories of these nights and a nagging at the back of my head during the day when I encounter certain coincidental situations or even conversations." Cryn looked up at Grandfather to see his initial reaction. He nodded and motioned for her to continue. 

She sucked in a deep breath and started again, "There was a man who came to where I work yesterday. He came… in the morning. I had just opened shop and…" Cryn blanked. "Well, then the next thing I remember is that man talking to me in the afternoon. Late afternoon." Cryn concentrated on her memory for anything else, but was interrupted by Grandfather. "My dear, you were visited by a creature not of this world. Cat and I both felt his presence, though I am uncertain of his true agenda, I know he did not mean you any harm. He was looking for something else. 

Cryn listened intently with a furrowed brow. 'Creature not of this world?' she thought to herself, and while Grandfather attended to the whistling teakettle she replied, "He was there the whole time I was out, and...he had the oddest aura about him, if you could call it that." 

Grandfather seemed to understand everything she was trying to say. "He was observing you. Nothing more. I sensed his curiosity. He had an object that affected you. It seems he was giving you a test of some sort." 

He poured the water over the tea strainer on top of the two mugs and brought them over. "Sugar or cream?" he inquired. 

"Thank you" Cryn replied but blinked her eyes in search of her memory. 'An object…' She couldn't recall any object. "Grandfather, I don't recall anything out of the ordinary other than him and the loss of that day." 

He nodded again and closed his eyes. "There is a Great Spirit calling to you Cryn. That man had some sort of knowledge of this Spirit and knew of a way to spark a reaction. Perhaps he just wondered if it were you that the Spirit was calling to." 

"Oh." Was all she could say. She took a long sip of her tea. It was incredibly good. "How do you know? I mean, how do you know if that is all he wanted, or if it was this…Spirit" She had to push out the final word. Her doubts of such entities pulling through. 

Grandfather chuckled once again and took a long drag on his pipe. "Well My Dear, I can sense many emotions and intentions of many creatures. There is a field that surrounds us and connects us all in a way. It affects everyone differently and some creatures are more sensitive to it than others. Most all the animals can, at some level, utilize this field. But most humans are too loud to hear anyone but himself or herself. That's why I like it out here. It is quiet and undisturbed. I can sense many things here." 

Cat nodded in the background but continued in his readings (or rather 'lookings'), confident that Grandfather would help his friend. 

They talked for another few hours, about mind and body, mind and spirit. Cryn couldn't believe how readily she was receiving it all. Or at least wasn't initially rejecting it all at once. It was so…against science. 

Before they had finished, Cryn was delighted when Grandfather motioned her to the decorated box in the middle of table. She gently reached for it and opened the hinged top. Inside was a myriad of various things. All were beautiful and enchanting. Some held a native flair, and others were simply mysterious. She picked out a little bag, and by the weight, overturned the contents into her hand. 

Grandfather was watching her carefully, but encouraged her on as she looked for his approval in handling his possessions. She held the bag's contents up to the light and smiled at their tiny bodies. They were all stones, some round, some rough, others terribly irregular, and a couple where slightly transparent, but all where beautiful in color and appearance. 

Grandfather broke the silence first, "You may keep what you have chosen. They are comfort stones." He examined his pipe and brought a match up to re-light it. "They really aren't anything incredibly unique, almost every culture has a counterpart to it. If you have any worries or troubles, simply choose a stone that strikes you as best fitting for the problem and separate it from the others. Keep it upon your person, but separate from the bag, and it will assist in ridding you of that worry." He chuckled, "I'd guarantee about 70% effectiveness." 

Cryn smiled back and put the stones back into the pouch. She treasured the gift and placed it in her pocket. "Thank you." Was all she needed to say. He nodded and went to the kitchen for some more tea. 

As the sun was setting, Cryn took a break and ventured out doors. Grandfather was teaching Cat some meditation techniques or whatnot, and so she decided on a walk so as to not disturb them. Before she left, she grabbed her bag out of her Alero and fumbled with it for her sketchbook. And though she finally raslled it out, she decided to keep it in the protective innards of her bag until she found a suitable spot. 

The sunset was magnificent, and she felt drawn to the canyon to watch it finally set. The ledge was about 50 feet in front of her and stretched east to west. She sat down cross-legged (still a bit away from the actual ledge), to watch the outer light dip into the canyon before totally disappearing. Of course she wouldn't stare directly at the sun, but the outlying colors were fantastic. Feeling enchanted by the evening, she kept her bag on her back as she sat down for a little extra sitting support. 

The yellows turned to oranges to reds and to purples and the temperature dropped fast. She sat there, absorbed in the still beauty around her, and only slightly feeling the time tick by. As the last of the color slipped entirely out of sight, she shed her light coating of the night dew that fell with the rapid temperature change. Cryn stood and gazed at all the stars that had exploded out across the sky all at once. The night was crystal clear, and there wasn't an obstruction or any light pollution to spoil her view. It was strangely familiar. She blinked and cocked her head to the side and for a brief second, wondered why she couldn't focus on a star. 

Her body felt light, and her mind in a strange, happy calm. A southern breeze at her back broke her wonderment. It was soothing breeze still warm from the land relinquishing its daytime heat. She leaned her back into it, allowing wisps of her brunette hair to wrap her face. She was vaguely glad that her backpack hung from her shoulders and weighted her down. She felt as if she would blow with the breeze if it wasn't there to stable her. 

As the breeze grew, she followed its gentle push north, towards the canyon. Spreading her arms out with fingers outstretched, she reached the edge of a sheer but beautiful drop. She smiled at her perspective and the unreal space sprawling just past her feet. 'It is so beautiful here. How can anything be as wondrous as this canyon?' She never noticed her thoughts were slowing. 

As the breeze became a wind, she turned to face the oncoming rush of air, totally immersed in the sensation of it caressing her face and body. Her heels brushed some pebbles over the edge, cascading down into darkness. 

Back in the cabin, Cat and Grandfather snapped their eyes open simultaneously. As nimble as felines they leaped to the cabin door and around to face the canyon. 

Cat screamed Cryn's name, but the growing wind drowned out his warning pleas. 

Cryn did see them running towards her, but she only smiled at her friends. There were whispers in her ear. Not understandable, but encouraging. Comforting. 

As the southern wind grew to it's final climax, Cryn blew with it, over the edge of the Grand Canyon. Nothing and Everything moved. Silent and blissful, she hovered and plunged into the well of darkness with a seemingly endless bottom. 

* * *

  
  



	6. Purpose ch. 5

  


* * *

**Chapter 5**

_Can you feel it?_

**The air?**

_The magic._

**I feel…many things.**

_What do you sense?_

**Beauty.**

_Really?_

**Yes, I sense, calmness, and beautiful things**

_Things?_

**Well, and you.**

_Really?_

**Yes. I sense your thoughts before you speak.**

_I do not speak, I only guide._

**What?**

_You must sense everything, not just us._

**There is something in the darkness.**

_Something here?_

**No, I only sense us here.**

_Really._

**I feel others…just outside of here.**

_Other beings?_

**…**

_Other sensations?_

**I sense and feel a great blanket.**

_Blanket?_

**Yes, something that is covering everything.**

_Can you feel it?_

**The magic?**

_Yesss._

**I think so.**   
  
  
  


******************************************************************** 

Her body felt like connected sacs of lead. She heard a bird's cawing in the distance, but it was vaguely alien. Her body was sprawled on the ground and her face was slightly embedded in something grainy and cool. She opened her eyes to a view of small ant like insects fighting over a piece of Nutri-grain bar they had scourged from her pack. They weren't a foot away, in her shadow and... they were talking. 

"Tis mine! You rapscallion, let go!" One said. 

"Tisn't, tis mine! You let go!" Said the other. 

Cryn was never one for bugs and so she rose with a start, towering over the ants. At her movement both insects looked up, screamed and ran away, their prize forgotten. She hadn't really registered their unlikely choice of communication and instead tried to steady her thoughts. 

Her sudden rise produced a blood rush and a headache. "Oooh" she clasped her head and blinked her eyes. She was surprised to find half of her face and body covered with sand. "Did I sleep outside?" 

Cryn looked about her surroundings, and to her surprise, found no car, no cabin and no friends. In fact, there wasn't even a canyon. Just desert. Yellow and rust red sand packed here and there but mostly in various sized dunes. The ground itself had a soft, sinking consistency. Her tennies where half submerged in the soft sand. 

Gazing out once more, in search of anything recognizable, her gaze met only with outlandish surroundings. An occasional cactus like plant could be seen or movements like a lizard would catch her eye, but the landscape spread as far beyond what she could see, with a reddish/purple/blue sky to back drop it. It looked like there were mountains in the distance, but the mounting heat waves distorted anything that far away. There were the remains of trees scattered about, twisted and dead. "What a desolate place this is." She mused aloud. 

A hot breeze picked up to her side, and blew the fine dust off the sandy ground. She turned her back to the breeze to protect her eyes and tried to breath through her nose in a meager attempt to filter her air intake. A spark of annoyance rose up through her innards and lit a small temper. 

"I must be hallucinating! I've heard of sleep deprived induced 'trips' but never did I expect it to be like this!" She gestured to her surroundings as she talked to the air with slightly slurred speech. She caught her movements, and speech pattern, and shook her head again, as if to clear it. It only brought on another ache. 

Cryn squinted at the glare of the reflected light and turned around to see the remains of a dark gray wall that had been shattered. Still with the varying breeze to her back, she tried to peer into the distance beyond the remenate wall. There seemed to be a good half mile of ancient looking walls in various forms of decay and destruction. However, the walls seemed to remain more intact the further in the distance. 

Though it seemed like morning, Cryn could feel the heat already beating down, and around, from a curiously redder sun than she had seen yesterday. The walls would at least provide some shelter in the increasing heat and so she decided to set off for the more intact structures. She grabbed her back pack and briefly glanced inside. All was still there except the one Nutri-grain that was sprawled on the ground. She reached in and grabbed her SPF 30. After applying some to her face, ears and hands, she put the bottle back in her bag and continued forward. Or in whatever direction it was that the walls were. 

She felt like she was still waking up from a coma and tried to repeatedly dispel the sensation. Her only success was to pay attention more to her surroundings than to her own mind. It helped a little bit. She reached into her pants pocket and brought out the bag of worry stones that Grandfather had so graciously given her. She separated out an ill regularly shaped obsidian stone with a thin blazing scar of white quartz and put it in the pocket opposite the bag. She couldn't really decide on what _one_ worry she had at that moment, so she decided to let it take care of all of them. With luck. 

Though the first quarter mile, or so, of walls had been in much the same state of dilapidation, they seemed to regain their composure fairly quickly. Upon closer inspection of these walls (the majority now intact), there were various niches where an occasional brown/green plant could be found, of various sizes. At a particularly healthy looking plant, Cryn stopped to make a quick sketch of it. She had, at one time, a real fascination for biology. But her impulse for the quick sketch was more than just curiosity... it was more like an impromptu nag. Her brow creased a bit when she sketched the surrounding masonry. It was odd in it's consistency and only noticed when studied up close. When she finished, she re-placed her sketchbook and grabbed a cereal bar. 

As she wandered further in, the walls were at their seemingly correct construction. Towering and connected, the walls were now leading in a most ridiculous path. They hadn't met into a dead end yet, though she expected one at any turn, but the openings became fewer and her choice of paths began to take on perpendicular qualities. She sighed after having to backtrack and start her path over and over again, her sense of direction guiding her back to where she thought she last left off. At least the ground steadily turned from unpacked sand, to a harder, more dirt consistency, allowing more efficient (and less tiring) travel. 

She could have sworn, many a time, that things were moving about her. The movements had a great variety, it seemed, but none would stay put long enough to catch with an eye. It was very frustrating. Especially since Cryn knew she hadn't fully regained her senses. But before she started lashing out at the walls, her rationale told her that she still didn't know the who, what, when where and how of the situation she was in. 

She decided to rest a minute and started to replay events she could remember. She and Cat and went to visit Grandfather. They had talked about…her sleeping. How she never could get a pleasant night sleep without... talking. 

'Talking?!' she mentally started. 'What has talking got to do with my not sleeping?' She shook her head, awaking a dull ache back into her skull. She leaned against the monolithic wall, her head bent against it. 

The second she touched the wall, she had a flash back. She was floating... floating among stars and…and then it ended. 

'What?' she thought. "How could I have been floating amongst stars?' 

"I am going out of my mind." 

"Cor, we all be out o'r minds here missy." A strange squeely, little voice spoke back to her from a particularly large niche in one of the walls opposite her. 

Cryn went over and bent down to investigate and found a florescent orange and red worm with blue hair and bug eyes looking at her. "Excuse me?" she said in a disbelieving voice. 

"I said, we all be o't 'our minds here." She replied. "But, everyone knows that. You…you a newbie?" 

"What!? I don't even know where I am, nor can I believe that I'm talking to a worm!" Cryn stated, surprisingly calm, but with a hint of whine. 

"What's this, too 'good for a worm? You're a bloody nose aren't cha?" The Worm started to crawl off but Cryn stopper her. 

"Wait! Please wait, I...I'm terribly sorry, it's just, well…worms don't talk were I come from." 

"What's that? Your worms don't talk?" The worm turned and laughed. "Well of course they talk!" It laughed again. "They probably don't want to talk to the likes of you!" 

And with that the worm was gone. Cryn sighed and sat down. 'What a strange place.'Looking through her bag she found another Nutrigrain bar. 'Worms actually talk! That or I'm still on one wild trip.' She devoured the one in about two bites, but had nothing to drink it down with. 

'What am I going to do?' She pondered her options. It felt awfully good to sit. Too good in fact. 'Well I shouldn't just sit here, I'll never get up if I do.' She brushed herself off and once again started off in the direction she thought was headed. 

She had to back track more and more as the walls were now leading into dead ends. But the ground was getting ever firmer, so she used that as a guide as to her progress from the outer desert and prayed that it wasn't some illusion. She continued to trudge on, hoping to contact another creature that could help her on her way. She gave a twisted smile at the thought of trying to find a 'talking creature' to help her. 

'Man, am I tumbling down a rabbit hole.' 

After another long peroid of nothing but walls and sun, Cryn noticed a slight change about her. It seemed as if the dry air was getting moister, but the sun still beat down, hotter than ever now that it was directly overhead. She glanced at her watch. It read a quarter after five. 

"But that's impossible, the sun is directly overhead." 

'The time, how off it is.' Her mind told her. 

"What?! Why is it that my mind talks to me as if we are two people?" Cryn was getting really annoyed and frazzled. She hadn't had restful sleep for over twenty-four hours and not to mention the forgotten dinner picnic back at the cabin. She groaned with her stomach, the Nutri-grains had done nothing but make her hungrier. She disregarded a thought to conserve the rest of her cereal bars and ate the last three. After her 'lunch' she just stared at the receding walls in front of her. They were taking her nowhere and it was beginning to really set in that she was in a unique and totally foreign situation. 

"How'd I'd get myself into a situation like this?" She rummaged through her bag and brought out her sunscreen. She squirted some out and lathered it on her neck and face. Unfortunately, she used up the last of the elixir when she covered the back of her hands. It was fortunate that she wore a light, but long sleeved shirt and pants, though she was feeling mildly sick from the sun. She had never liked prolonged exposure before and always hated it when her parents sent her and Nanny to go to the beach or any outside activity on a sunny day. It just wasn't her thing. Winter to cloudy and 65 degrees F was her range of preferred weather. 

She tried to belay her discomfort and focus more on her environment. 

All of a sudden the walls straightened out, but before Cryn could enjoy the change, she realized just how straight and long her path had become. 

'Another puzzle.' Her mind said. She just accepted it and continued on, searching the walls for some physical clue. 

After what seemed like a few hours, or only two by her still ticking watch, she stopped to stretch a sore calf, and to take another short break. There were no cooling shadows from the walls and her medium length hair was falling out of place. She undid the hair band, and swooped it all back into a bun/ponytail again. Her sweat was attracting the fine dust in the air, and dampened her hairline with grime. 

'Sheesh, I haven't had this much physical activity since ski team.' She grunted, flashing back to high school and the ridiculous sport she trained for everyday. Though she mentally chided herself for becoming so winded so early. She wasn't even running. But the thought of ski team brought to life another memory of her parents. She _had_ enjoyed skiing, but it wouldn't have mattered if she didn't. 

"It wasn't my choice." Her parents had always liked bragging rights for their cocktail friends and ski team was an expensive show sport. 'How could they have NOT forced me into ski team?' 

She had quickened her pace a little while thinking of her parents but had also put her direction on autopilot. She stopped when another wall abruptly broke her path. 

"What am I supposed to do?" Cryn asked aloud. She was starting to really feel sick from the heat and sun. 'A pale skinned girl shouldn't be out in weather like this.' She sighed again. "I have no food, no water and no sunscreen. Who knows how long until night falls. I need to get somewhere and fast." 

"Ah ha ha! Get sssomewheresss fassst? In the Labyrinth? You sssure have a funny sssense of humor!" 

Cryn glanced around to see an anteater-like creature ambling toward her. Its lips were at the end of its long snout and it's tongue flicked out when it talked though it's small mouth. And though it was fairly big, she doubted it would or could hurt her with that mouth. Plus she wasn't going to make the mistake of insulting this creature so she tried a more polite introduction. 

"Hello, I'm Cryn. Can you tell me more about where we are? The Labyrinth? That is what you said right?" 

"Tisss right, we be in the Labyrinth. You...you didn't know that eh? Well, my poor girl, your not going to lassst very long, I'd wager." The creature shook his head and eyed Cryn. "Well, the name'sss Arthyraniusss. I've been wondering thessse wallsss ever sssince I gotsss lossst, beforesss I can rememberss." 

"So is there any water or berries or anything? Anything to eat?" She asked hopefully. 

"Well, there'sss ssstreamsss and riversss throughout thesesss partsss. But the only thingsss tassty to eatsss are wringsss." At Cryn's bewildered face he explained, "Ya knowsss, sssix legsss, antennesss, talksss an awful lotsss." 

"Oh, well I saw some little bugs just outside these walls, fighting over some food. They had six legs and were so high" She indicated with her hands. 

"Aye, thossse probably be themsss. Cor, you weresss outssside thessse wallsss? Why you'd comesss in 'em? Ssssssssssssstupid girl." He sighed and went about his way. 

"Well...Thanks for nothing Arthrus." She called after him. Without turning he replied with a grunt "It's Arthyramiusss…" 

'Well at least I know I won't die of dehydration...for sure. I've just got to find a water source.' She didn't want to think about water cleanliness, she'd take her chances with any water now. 

Almost if on cue, Cryn heard the sound of moving water. She couldn't believe it at first, but following the sound, she eventually came about a mid-size stream. It had a quick current for a stream, and it was incredibly deep. So deep, in fact, that it was a dark as night when gazed upon straight down. It looked very artificial. 

Cryn didn't care and her mouth tried to water, but only felt cottonier. She couldn't wait. Diving down to her hands and knees, she voraciously gulped the cool water. It was cool and sweet and good. It was so cool and sweet and good, in fact, that she couldn't stop until her stomach ached with the abuse of being a water balloon. She sat on her haunches and gazed at the river a while unable to get up. Her face indicated that her mind had stopped all concious thought. She soon fell over onto the sparse grass that banked the unnaturally straight stream bank. She was deep asleep before her head hit the ground. 

Unbeknownst to her, there were almond eyes watching. Eager eyes that watched anything fall to the streams power of thirst. But before the oppertunistic predator could pounce, a wall, same as the others, grew up and around the sleeping creature. 

The predator sulked back, annoyed that it's hunger would remain un-sated until the next victim happened along. 

It was too dumb to realize that the very Labyrinth was protecting this human girl. 

* * *


	7. Purpose ch. 6

  


* * *

  
**Chapter 6:**

_There is magic in the air._

**I know**

_Do you feel it?_

**I feel…nothing. I sense…**

_What?_

**I do not understand.**

_Not understand?_

**NO! I don't KNOW!**

_What do you think you sense?_

**Voices…and touches at the same time.**

_You don't understand this?_

**No. I only hear and feel…sensations…at the same time.**

_Embrace it._

**It is…uncomfortable.**

_But natural._

**But natural.**

_Can you feel us?_

**My body is…gone!…I…**

_You are here._

**I feel with no body, hear with no ears!…I DON'T understand!…**

_You are here. Embrace…_

**I…I CAN'T!**

_You will. You must._

**It is hurting me.**

_Embrace us._

**Why?**

  
  
  
  
  
  


************************************************************************************************************************** 

Cryn opened her eyes to a confined darkness. She tried to lift her head, but bumped into something like stone. The resulting ache was almost forgotten in her astonishment. She wriggled around, exploring her enclosure. Both her hands and feet stopped inches from their resting place. Panic started to set in. 

"Help!" her voice almost a whisper. "HELP! Help me, please. Someone…help." She briefly yelled, but could feel the air running out on her. She forced herself to calm down. Her breath was ragged, her flight response taking over. She couldn't see anything. 

'I…where am I?' she thought. Her mind screamed 'GET OUT!' 

She tried not to think of bugs and crawly things that might inhabit confined and dark spaces. She closed her eyes to fight the strain. 'I was by a stream and I…I probably fell asleep. I didn't just _beam_ somewhere.' 

Just as she gained control and cleared her mind to think, the walls suddenly began to move…inward. There was no sound, only the gentle but steady pressure of the cold brick against her limbs. 

Her heart momentarily stopped. Her mouth hung open in a silent scream turned gasp. Once again her reaction to flee broke her mental control. Though she didn't flail about, her body did violently contract. At the brink of passing out, her subconscious finally took over. 

'Embrace it' her mind told her. 

She felt her body relax and mind reflex. It was an odd sensation. It seemed like a natural impulse yet still foreign. She couldn't believe the consequences of her involuntary impulse. She couldn't believe that it even worked, and work so powerfully. Feeling the inclosing pressure, she shattered the wall with an outward heaviness. In her mind it was like moving a limb, but not having to consciously think about it. Only a notion, a feeling, it hadn't even developed into a thought yet. It was automatic. 

The shards of wall continued to fall back to the ground, and she dumbly sat up and looked around her. It was now night with a brilliant full moon, curiously larger than previously seen, and crystal clear stars. 'What just happened?' Her lungs gulped in the sweet night air. 

She cocked her head to the side and looked at an adjacent wall. She stared at it for a few minutes, furrowing her brow in concentration. The wall stayed intact. 

"Okay. I think I just broke out of a wall. I don't know how and…" she started at the wall once again, "I can't do it again." She sighed a dramatic and drawn out sigh. "Did I unknowingly take some acid?" She looked around and for a moment believed that there was a little something extra in that tea Grandfather had given her. 

A surge of frustration rang out through her body and to her mouth. 

"WHY!" she yelled into the night. "Why can't I be in some _UNDERSTANDABLE_ situation?" she bit out each syllable as if such scrutiny of her native tongue would help the situation. "Why must I be thrown into these…these impossible riddles?" She grabbed a clump of grass in her tantrum and threw it randomly. It really didn't make her feel any better. 

She forced herself to calm down. A trick she'd perfected while living with her impossible and offensive parents. As the beating blood drained from her ears, she noticed the new and totally encompassing silence. 

"Wait a sec…" she looked around again. There was no bubbling stream and no sign of her back pack. 'Well that's no surprise, I doubt a wall just grew up around me. Someone put me in there, or it was just a dream.' She picked up a broken piece of brick on the ground. 'Nope, I did just break out of somewhere.' She looked up at the sky again and tried to find the some basic frame of reference, either the Little Dipper or the Southern Cross. She could see neither. 

She felt a strange thrill electrify her spine. "I am…somewhere else." Her tired, but still lovely face broke into a large, genuine smile. Her face muscles faintly protested at the underused act. 

"I am not on Earth." She mused aloud while gazing at the alien Moon. She could see no crators that she recognized. She contemplated this for a minute, her smile morphed with a touch of a sarcastic twist. A dark chuckle escaped her inner throat. "Wow, you really wish for something and it does come true." Her grin faded as she wondered if she really wanted what she wished for. 

"But I didn't wish for this!" She once again stated aloud. 

'Oh you didn't?' her mind shot back. 

"Well, this certainly does explain some things." She thought back to the talking creatures at the beginning of her little journey. 'I can't believe I didn't have this little revelation before.' She thought back to the day's other events. Or at least all the events that transpired the last time she was awake. She had no idea how long she had been in that…prison? She shuddered. 'No, it was just an enclosure.' She didn't want to believe anyone wanted her forgotten or dead. How could anyone? She knew nobody here. 'Where ever here is.' But the day's events could never have happened anywhere on Earth she had ever been or heard of. 

Her thought pattern broke at an observation, "What the...." She gazed at the surrounding walls while getting off the ground. They were different than the ones she had fallen asleep to. She grabbed a shattered piece of brick off the ground and examined it in the moonlight. Yes, it was the same make as the walls she originally saw, and different than the ones that now surrounded her. "What does it mean?" she whined. Her head hurt from all the new riddles and situations. "Labyrinth…" she muttered. 'That's what that Arth… whatever, guy said.' 

"It certainly is living up to its name." She grunted in annoyance. 

'What else did he say? He's been lost for as long as he can remember?' She shuddered again, though not entirely because of the concept. It was quite chilly. 

She crossed her goose bumped arms across her thin, but long sleeved shirt. Her pants were roughly the same thin, cottony material and gave little warmth retention. She looked down at her tennies. Her feet were cold due to sweat and no socks. It was not a happy position to be in. 

The moon seemed to be reaching its high point, but there was no telling what the orbit was like. She was almost surprised to see only one moon. 

Setting off in the direction of the only opening in the surrounding walls, Cryn set a brisk pace. The new walls looked softer than the others. They seemed more organic in design and color. She touched a particularly curvy wall. It was soft, but firm, and… warm. The wall was WARM! 

She hoped it wasn't alive, or at least had no toxin defense attributes, like some plants she read about in school or have some other booby trap, and leaned her back against it. Warmth soothed her backside and she turned to warm the front. She smiled at her impression of being a shih-ka-bob. 

As she turned again to switch sides, her eye caught an object in the distance. Not more that a mile away was a towering structure. There was a huge outer wall and at the top grew a castle of sorts. It was a sharp castle, with spires and an odd mixture of soft and hard angles. It defiantly contrasted with the current walls around her. 

She decided to try and reach the structure. And after one last warmth leaning, she headed off towards the castle.   
  
  


* * *

  



	8. Purpose ch. 7

* * *

**Chapter 7**

After trying to keep the castle in her sights, and utterly failing to get any closer to it, she decided on a less conventional approach. 'Well it's a Labyrinth right? So in the traditional sense, nothing is what it seems and the riddles are always against common sense.' She sighed. 'Great.' 

It took her a few hours (and a couple of intermittent castle sightings) to realize that if she were to ever glimpse the castle and to take the passage most direct to it, it would immediately disappear at the next step towards it. She backtracked a few steps in proof. So, she decided to do the exact opposite of heading toward the monstrous structure, and head away from it. 

Cryn almost started leaping for joy after it seemed she was making progress. The dead ends became fewer and far between. Only now there seemed to be an increasing abundance of hidden holes. Sheer drops that could only be seen straight down because of the horizontal illusion that hid them. 

Cryn quickly learned about these mysterious falls after a close encounter with one. She was never a very religious person, but after catching the convenient vine that saved her from a plummet, she gave silent thanks to whatever deity was listening. It was only later that she noticed the distinct lack of vines on all the other walls she encountered. 'Strange that there should have been one then.' She mused after side stepping another disguised fissure. 

Cryn's supply of adrenaline, however, was beginning to wane, and as the dead ends became less frequent, her yawns took their place. She knew she hadn't slept very well, or really at all, in the last 72 hours. 'At least Earth's last 72 hours.' Cryn smirked. "What am I saying? I have no idea how time works here. All I know is that I haven't slept in a long *fucking* time!" she continued her frustrations aloud and slammed a fist into a nearby wall. Needless to say, it wasn't the wall that budged. 

She whipped her hand back and lifted it to her face to see any immediate damage. She was almost too tired to feel the scrapping pain the wall had greeted her to. 

'This isn't good.' She rolled her eyes toward the sky. The brilliant speckling of stars were again the only sights to greet her. And the gorgeous moon which looked like a perfect sphere in her groggy eyes. 'Like a perfect crystal.' She knew she was going to collapse in sheer exhaustion before ever reaching the castle. 

She sighed and continued to survey the heavens above. Her forehead creased as one of the stars was moving above her. As she stood and watched as the star traced a large, slow ellipse over her position. She noticed that the star was getting closer, and was in fact, not a star at all. It was a white form in flight, reflecting the moon's cool white light. And as it approached she thought she saw wings and the form mold into a large bird. Unfortunately, she quickly dismissed it as a figment of her tired mind. And once again put her mind's resources her surroundings. 

There hadn't been any streams in quite a while. She also noticed the lack of new (and mostly rude and unhelpful) beings in her path. It almost seemed that her environment was growing starker as she neared the huge castle. 

Her forehead creased at her rush of epiphanies. She was too tired to digest all of it and actually implement it into her traveling strategy. Her mouth twisted into a cynical sneer and gave a hoarse grunt to substitute for a laugh. If she didn't keep alert and focused, she would most certainly die. After a few stumbles, she knew a rest was the only option. 

Almost out of thin air, the sweet smell of vegetation caressed her nostrils. She followed the sent around two more walled passages and came upon a gorgeous court garden, with abundant vegetation and beautiful moonlight flowers. The entire garden was meticulously cut, right down to the perfect green carpet. She smiled at the aroma, and literally fell to the soft earth. It never felt so good to just fall down. She didn't move a muscle after her not so graceful landing. 

She stared just listened to the silence of the beautiful garden. Just as she was about to fall into a deep and everlasting slumber, something caught in the corner of her eye. It was a green bulge not far from her, though the sheer energy expelled to move her head felt like she wasted a star's worth of internal fuel. It was green, like any other part of the unnatural clearing, yet it was outrageously overgrown with viney threads of leafy green. As she gazed about more clearly she noticed that it wasn't the only overgrown part of the courtyard. There were about ten such bulges. 

She laboriously got up and went to inspect the first bulge. It was lying close to the ground but not entirely on the ground and was much greater in length than in height. It almost seemed humanoid in its upper outline. As she pulled away some of the green covering, she found it to be a stone statue. It was a creature lying on its side though up on a pedestal. The creature was not like any she had seen, but it had two eyes, a mouth, a flat nose, no ears, and it was designed as if to be sleeping. The detailing was immaculate. It had the most peaceful expression on its face, as if it were in the happiest of dreams. Cryn smiled with the expression. 

But there was something nagging at the back of her head. 'What an odd sculpture to put in a garden such as this, and to keep is so untended.' She went to the next bulge and uncovered another strange creature, in much the same position as the first. Complete with expression. She went and checked the others, all different creatures with the same qualities of sleep and stone. One of the creatures was another, seemingly, human female. 

Though slowed by dehydration and fatigue, her mind finally connected. "They were once alive!" She almost screamed it, but her voice came out only a whisper. "Until they fell asleep here, in this garden." She shuddered at the thought of becoming a statue, and left the area quickly now immune to it's seductive calling. 

'There could be worse things, I guess. At least they all looked peaceful in their slumber." Another thought troubled her. "A creature cannot fall asleep here." She pondered her arrival and how she had woken up. It was the sleep that brought her here? 'Well, not necessarily, but after I fell asleep by the first stream I was in trouble.' She started to panic, sleep was very important to sanity and living in general. She could feel a mass of emotions boiling to the surface. Even if she did let herself sleep, where would she end up? "Another close call, another place I would have to comprehend again?" Her voice was again hoarse and faltering, but it didn't matter. She fought down the bile threatening to come up. But the tears, they weren't so easily dammed. 

Cryn temporarily to caught herself from crying. Tried to re-evaluate the situation and stay focused on her immediate goals. But her emotions won out. She wanted to go… "Go where? Home?" She shook her head and leaned against the cool stone masonry, oblivious to the fact that the walls had changed again. The tears would not stay back anymore. 

She cried. She cried for her situation, her self-pity, but mostly for her frustrations, her inadequacies, her lack of a life. It all came up and out. She cried for and about her parents. She didn't have the energy for a full out dramatic fit. She simply sat against the wall and let the tears drain out and the sobs be stifled in her shirt. She knew the precious saline that dripped so lavishly down her cheeks was a resource she couldn't afford to loose. But logic had been swept under the rug. She was running on pure emotions now. 

After a bit, in that it state, not quite sleeping yet not quite awake, she raised her head. Her blood shot eyes rose to the sky to watch the moon decline it's nightly reign and the beginnings of the reddish sun that intended to climb to it's own high throne. Her body felt spent. But then she did notice that the wall she was leaning on wasn't warm at all. In fact it was cold, and hard, and once again a different color. 

She slowly got up and surveyed her new surroundings in the new light. The walls were an almost gold color. There were no marks on them, only smooth surfaces that connected seamlessly to one another. She ran a finger across the wall; it was crisp and flawless. The color was getting brighter as the sun rose, and the walls reflected the light to a degree. She reached an opening and looked at the thickness of the wall. It was relatively thin. 

'That's no good.' She thought. 'That means more maze per foot. Great.' And she was right. The openings and 'hallways' were much thinner than before. The stretches of walkway shorter, the number of turns greater, and the disorientation of such flawless and continuous walls mind boggling. Cryn, for the first time in her life, started to feel faint. 

She staggered on, hoping that she didn't stumble into some deadly trap. She let her subconscious guide her feet. The walls began to glare like the sun not long after the sunrise. Cryn had to shield her eyes. It only made herself feel more helpless, more lost, more willing to sit down and give up. 

But before she lost all hope, the castle once again appeared out of nothingness, not 100 feet away. At first she didn't notice it. Her eyes were squinted to slits and staring straight down under the added protection of her hands. Only after a feeling of intuition did she take a brief look up and nearly fell over with the sight of the structure she had been searching for. 

She didn't dare to hope that it really was just around another turn, another wall. 'It must be a mirage.' She meekly smiled, but turned the last corner and was actually in front of the castle. She gasped and looked up, the glaring light now gone. 

It was monstrous in size. A castle fit for giants. "How come it didn't look this big from a far?" Her voice squeaked with dryness. 

"Well, well. What have we here?" 

Cryn jumped at the cultured voice and quickly whipped around to face it's owner.   
  


* * *

  
  



	9. Purpose ch. 8

* * *

**Chapter 8**

The voice belonged to no other than the very tourist Cryn had seen yesterday. Or the day before yesterday, or when ever it was. His blonde hair was as wild and wispy as ever, even weirder than when they first had met. And his peculiar facial markings were a blaze on his features, not like the soft markings she had first seen. He wore an old fashioned outfit of a white poet's shirt and fitting black pants. Even in the heat he wore black gloves and wore around his neck a rather large pendent with some figure. 'A moon perhaps,' Cryn thought. 

"I…I don't know…' Cryn's voice failed her, she was parched and tears before had washed away her reserves. She eyed the man (as he appeared to be one) warily and tried to speak again. "I don't know how I am here, or…or why I am. Can you…help me?" 

The man seemed amused at her question. He changed his stance in a very elegant motion and replied "I, my dear, can no better help you with those questions than a goblin could help you with your physics." He continued to laugh briefly at his own joke and after, with a slight smile upon the corners of his mouth, he approached Cryn with surprising speed and grace. She must have blinked for he covered the distance betwixt them in no less of a second and slid to her side to put his arm about her waist. Had she been awake enough to really follow his movements, she would, no doubt, have backed away. Unfortunately she was absolutely exhausted. She could only fall into his offered support. 

"My, my. Aren't we getting off to a quick start together…hummm?" He smiled a mischievous grin, his face uncomfortably close to Cryn's. She managed to lean her head away, and give a tired and annoyed look back. He simply barked out a small laugh in amusement. "You're a resistant one…Love? Not so easily wooed?" His words dripped with merry sarcasm and his very essence oozed a countenance of self-superiority. 

'Geeze... this guy could be a game show host.' Cryn smiled wirily at the thought, though unfortunately the 'tourist' took it as amusement from his own. Cryn wanted to be rid of this man, but she could not pull away from his soft but firm grip even, she came to realize, if she were fully rested. 

He let out a low pondering noise as he briefly studied her. She really did not like this man in the least. He seemed just to know what fluffed her feathers and she be damned if he weren't constantly studying her. What was worse was that he studied her like an unusual bug. She was surprised he had managed to speak in a civil way to her through his musings. 

"I am Jareth. Current resident of this castle." His mouth turned into another smirk as he gestured with his head the towering building beside them. His eyes crinkled in merriment. She followed his movement but also noticed his eyes were, again, very curious. 'How odd, one is blue and the other hazel. He is slightly attractive…if he didn't talk so much.' She snorted. 

"I'm Cathryn. Current resident of the Twilight Zone." 

As she returned to study him he seemed to enjoy her actions. However as he opened his mouth for another comment, Cryn spoke up again, with a different tactic than before. 

"If you please, kind, kind sir. Please give me a drink of water, and a safe place to rest. I am going to fall asleep as we stand and… I do not want to wake up in another awful place." She finished with effort and cringed at the note of desperateness. 

Jareth contemplated her request for a moment, his eyes dead center into Cryn's. She felt like he was reading her very soul but could not look away. "Humm, I know the perfect bed for you love." Finally, he silky cooed in reply. Upon Cryn's look of anger and slight fear, he added after a pause, " Oh not mine, My Dear, at least not as of yet. You are far to weak to sustain being in my bed." He once again regained his arrogant but mirthful countenance. 

He gave her a mocking gaze and gestured with his free hand while continuing, "I'll grant your requests for your fill of water and a safe place to rest…" his emphasis on safe made Cryn feel only uncomfortable, but he still continued as he somehow orchestrated their disappearance. 

"We'll talk of payment later." 

* * *


	10. Purpose ch. 9

  


* * *

  
**Chapter 9**

Cryn had awakened in lavish surroundings. Even the bed she had found herself in was fit for Louis XIV. But for all the splendid decor, she hardly noticed it in her pondering and assessment of her situation. And though the door was locked, she was extremely relieved to find a washroom and a pitcher of clean, clear water. She had drank her fill (also noticing that the pitcher never went empty), and tended to her sun burnt skin with a damp cloth. She didn't want to use the ancient looking bathing structures in the washroom, nor the toilet system, but need overcame both reservations, and she was ultimately thankful for both. 

Venturing over to the ornate closet in the corner of the room, she discovered only dresses and odd-looking undergarments. She did manage to find a pair of droopy, black silk pants and a white silk and gauze like undergarment that looked like a boat necked nightgown with slight bell sleeves. She found a knife in a dresser drawer and cut the top half or so, off the gown to make a tunic length long-sleeved top. She undressed her ragged and dirty 'normal' clothes and heaped them on a chair. 

The clothing she donned had a luxurious feel, but she felt kind of exposed through the flimsy material. The pants were fitting around the waist and they dropped to below her ankles in wide legs with drawstrings at the bottoms. She assumed the pants were supposed to be stuffed with something and the drawstrings closed around the mid-calf or so. But she never was one to fit in with fashion, especially weird, alien fashion. 

Her tunic was sufficiently opaque, but very thin, yet she didn't want to give off the wrong impression, especially to a guy who she didn't even know! Though, gauging from his wardrobe, she didn't think anything she found would shock him. Just in case, she found a light, gauzy emerald green robe with a tie waist. There was also a pair of strappy flat sandals that fit her. She hoped no one would mind her borrowing a few items. 

She still couldn't believe how spry she felt after waking up, but she resented the vulnerability that saturated her second encounter with the 'tourist.' She vaguely remembered reaching the castle, and her semi-delirious conversation with...Jareth. And even sketchier were her travels to this room. She had been relieved to find herself still *clothed* when she awoke, only her shoes had been removed. 

'Well,' she chuckled. 'That's only relieving if he doesn't have a foot fetish.' 

But why would he do such a thing anyway? She didn't even KNOW this guy. Well... she did have her pre-dispositions about him... sure. But she also realized that he was her host and had graciously accepted her request for water and a 'safe' place to rest. And as far as she could tell, he had kept up his end of the bargain. No matter how much she didn't like him. 

She also tried not to be so egocentric and assume that he was even interested in... in a male-female manner. It was more like... well, it was more like what Grandfather had said about him. He was curious about her, that was obvious. Why? She couldn't begin to guess. Why would any magical person be interested in a human with sleeping problems? It was more like he put her in a nice room to try and observe her behavior and any other *characteristics.* She rolled her eyes. 

'He could be taking advantage of my situation. I mean, what else could I possibly need after traveling through that monstrous rat testing track?' She unconsciously looked up and out the window at the sprawling masses of walls that spread out in distorted concentric circles from her vantage. But then went back to her compulsive pacing. 

'But he did do you a favor. Even if it wasn't a selfless favor, it still is a due balance.' She stopped in her tracks. 

"What will he ask for?" 

She snorted and decided to change the subject. 

'Yeah... change the subject! To what... the physics exam you've gotta take in about a week? You sure got a funny sense of humor!' 

"I hate... HATE my mind!" Cryn yelled out her frustrations with her alter ego. 

She forced herself to once again look around her... room and tried to relax. 

'Such decadence...' she mentally clucked. 'Why would anyone need this kind of gaudy reassurance?' 

She went to the opening in the wall and fingered the gold window frame while gazing out. The window was overly priceless, but it also was un-paned. Cryn mused at the situation. 'Money can't buy a dry room when it rains.' 

But the various smells that poured into her enclosure were complex at best. She could pick out the lovely smell of the breeze; rich with alien air and something else she couldn't quite put her finger on. The smell of her room, slightly musty, but not unpleasant and again had the same mysterious quality as the outside breeze. But what ruined it was the slightly sour odor lifting up from the mass of structures below. 

The drop outside her window was mind-boggling. Curious though, was how she was still able to clearly see the innards of the wall that surrounded the castle. 'It must be an illusion,' she concluded. But her thoughts were once again interrupted by the sun baked, foul scent that the... town... was emanating. Though the visual stimulus was very interesting. 

The scene displayed below her was more than extraordinary... it was also depressing. In books she had read in a history class about medieval construction, it seemed appropriate that there was a sort of city sprawled out between the castle and the surrounding wall. Though, it was morphed in a dirty way. The buildings seemed truncated, and sickly. With odd protrusions and impossible exaggerations. 

Even more extraordinary were the creatures that inhabited such structures. They were small, dirty creatures, that mulled around in a seemingly chaotic manner. They certainly seemed to be the cause of the rotten smell that wafted up to her nostrils. The creatures seemed to have a 'stupid' intelligence. Just enough to dictate wants and needs.... but no higher functions. Though she did feel a small pang of pity for them. It seemed so... sad, that their existence had been reduced to such scubblings. 

She didn't know why she assumed their situation had been 'reduced,' only that once again, her mind seemed to take on assumptions all on it's own. She simply now accepted it. 

Turning from the window, intent on pacing again, her heart stopped as she turned and faced a person, rather than air. 

Her gasp was caught in her throat, and it took a second for her heart to start working again. But she recovered, almost unnoticeably. Almost. But it put her in a foul mood. 

"My Dear, I have no intention of harming you." Jareth let the tones of his voice roll off his tongue in a comforting silk. 

He was wearing a different ensemble than outside the wall of the city. From this she assumed at least a day had passed. 

She eyed the riding crop he so effortlessly played with while he emphasized his point of 'no harm.' And his air of arrogance wiped clean her earlier thoughts about a gracious host. 

He again caught her actions and shrugged. Gliding his way over to a nearby throne like chair, he seemed constantly amused at her demeanor. 

"And so you settle for mental anguish and lack of privacy." Cryn leapt out onto the limb. Though, there was a nagging voice in the back of her head, urging... no SCREAMING for her to be cautious. 

Jareth seemed pleased at the remark, however, and continued with an amiable tone, "I only came in to see how you were feeling. If you needed anything else...And...." His eyebrow curved up with the question. 

"And to talk of my payment?" Cryn crossed her arms and shifted her weight onto one hip. 

"My my, how astute. I can tell those lessons of yours are working marvelously. In addition to your accomplished etiquette." 

Cryn tried not to glare. It was a jab, but growing up under a sexist and demeaning father had left its defensive scars. He didn't even know her! Unfortunately her stomach decided to answer for her with a resonant growl. 

"Well, let us not dwell in this dire room any longer. Would you be so kind as to accompany me to the dining hall?" Jareth seemed quite used to asking a command. But his polite offer showed more class than she had so far, and the moment she realized that, was the moment she again came back to adult reality. Except that her petty pride was going to get her into trouble. 

"I suppose, as long as I don't have to sell my soul to do so." 

Jareth let a wave of seriousness cross his face and replied "No no noo, of course not... " But added with a wicked grin, "... for just dinner." He offered his arm in a polite manner and seemed content to stay that way until she approached the offered invitation. 

Cryn swallowed her pride, and her apprehension, and crossed the room with a pseudo-confidence. She wasn't sure she wanted to be so close again to her 'host' so she gingerly placed her arm under and around his, but kept the rest of her body away from touching him. 

She was silently amazed at how he seemed to bring out her most childish qualities. 'Little brat...' Cryn mused about her old nickname. 'I've got to try and be mature here. I think I can do it... as long a Mr. High and Mighty won't push any more buttons.' 

She was caught off guard when, in one fluid motion, he corrected her position by a firm hold on her arm, and consequently close, side by side contact. Her first thought was agreement, since that was the correct position to be escorted in. But then again, how the hell did she know what it was like to be escorted? She shot her host a brief glare, but immediately felt, again, like a brat. This man had taken her in, given her a bed to crash in, plenty of blessed water and for the most part, privacy. Who was she to let her defensive, judging, sexist ego rule her actions? Well... she did still have to hear of this 'payment' ordeal. 

While wondering the twisting hallways, however, she almost forgot her company in awe. 

The castle was immaculate. The hallways were richly decorated with high, pointed ceilings, but they were all dark, the only light emanating around them as they walked. She wondered at Jareth's common use of such... magic, for lack of a better word. And she began to appreciate his guidance and his presence as they passed hallways upon intersecting hallways, all with the same level of darkness and motif. She gave a small snicker at the thought of becoming lost, but smiled briefly when Jareth looked at her out of the corner of his eye. 

There was a sense of intangible pressure. It kept their discussion to a minimum. 

Doors were everywhere. She cursed herself for not studying the door they had left more closely. It had overlooked the outside of the castle, and may have given some insight as to which doors lead to such rooms. Though a part of her would have cried with the prospect of another maze, within a maze, she surprised herself by staying calm. She was changing. Or traumatized. She was taking all of these new surroundings in stride, apparently showing the strength of her interest and belief in Sci Fi. 

After another few minutes of walking, and two hallway turns, they came upon a set of towering doors. The ceiling had opened up without notice, and the doors were crafted of the darkest wood and adorned with silver gold highlights of a strange, continuous pattern. 

Jareth held up a hand, but said nothing, and both doors groaned heavily open. It was dark at first inside, and then, with another silent command, Jareth flicked his wrist and the room alighted as if the sun itself shone directly overhead. Cryn could only gasp. 

Jareth turned to her with a twinkle in his eye, "My Dear, I can only assume your upbringing was rather poor for not knowing about such a concept as lighting up a room." 

Cryn again, only wished she had never met the man. 

Which prompted a thought. She asked as innocently as possible, "Are you a man?" 

He obviously was caught off guard with that, since he seemingly acquired a hairball at that moment. He didn't dignify the question with a response however, and instead, gestured her into the room. Jareth kept his light, but firm hold on her arm, and guided her in. It was almost as if he was afraid to let her go. 

It was all Cryn could do, however, so as a smile didn't blast it's way onto her face. 

But her small victory was forgotten as they traversed the enormous room. Cryn literally twisted around to take it all in. Before entering the hall, Cryn had assumed it to be the dinning room, but instead found it was lined with plush chairs, sofas and low, crystalline tables. Huge paintings with ornate frames lined the hall. And everything was accentuated with a kind of metal. 'Probably precious.' But Cryn had to crease her forehead at the paintings themselves. They were done by the most talented of artists since they looked like photographs, but the subject matter was quite bizarre. 

When Cryn had visited the Chicago Institute of Art on a class field trip, one of her favorite exhibits was of all the Royal European portraits that were then on tour. The kings and queens, dukes and duchesses, barons and baronesses, ambassadors and their families, wealthy merchants and royal courts. All were decadent and colorful. Cryn didn't care so much for the people themselves, for they all had the same 'kingly' arrogance and stance, but the artist's work and brushstroke were what interested her. How these, usually poor, people achieved such an image with paints they had made themselves and self taught lessons on the mathematics that govern composition, amazed Cryn to no end. And the compositions of the portraits themselves were interesting for her to compare. Of course the styles of the ages were noteworthy too. The colorful silks, velvets and gold cloth that only such esteemed families could afford. 

The paintings in this Waiting Hall all reminded her of the European Royalty, except, instead of humans, or people akin to Jareth, they were all disgusting creatures, reminding her of Gremlins, or.... 'Goblins,' her mind finished for her. They didn't even fill up half of the picture. It was if the paintings were initially intended for some larger subject, but instead were used to paint these ridiculous, half pint creatures all decorated like royalty. A few even held scepters and most had crowns. The females had pristine gowns of startling color, and the males no less startling attire. They also reminded her of the creatures she saw outside her 'bedroom.' But she pushed that absurd thought aside. 'How could those dirty creatures be featured here?' 

Cryn would have liked to study the paintings up close, her curiosity building up inside her, however, the light but firm grip of her host lead her to the opposite doorway. 

He seemed in a kind of a rush.   


* * *

  
  



	11. Purpose ch. 10

  


* * *

**Chapter 10**

As they traversed the castle, Cryn wondered if it were larger inside than out. The rooms and hallways were, once again, maze like and foreboding. There wasn't a soul to be found. Even in the darkest depths, there were no spiders or rats or other such creatures. The pristine silence continued to press little conversation. It was if the whole structure was alive, and one sound would wake the beast. Many a time she had wanted to break away from their travels and study the myriad rooms and halls they came across. 

It was beyond her imagination. Some rooms were as decayed and broken down as if millennia had passed without care. Others were brightened with distinct impression of having been meticulously dusted and shined just minutes before. 

Great machines with winding gears and odd-looking structures filled gigantic rooms. Some were working, others were not. They all had a similar construction, similar controls. But only their builders could know what they did. Those that did work, were surprisingly quiet and smooth. They seemed to have been designed with an organic approach. Cryn wondered what they were powered by, what they did and how they did it. She made a mental note to ask her host. 

Jareth seemed not to notice her curiosity, however, and in fact, he was rather on edge. Once they had passed out of the first Waiting Hall, he had lost his usual manner and had adopted a silent and alert one. He was also uncomfortable, and strung like a wire next to Cryn. She noticed his increasing grip on her. 

It was in a particularly large machine room that they heard a noise. At first it was a soft sigh, but loud enough to be heard miles away. Jareth at once froze, and Cryn did the same. 

She turned her head with a question on her lips, but remained quiet upon Jareth's look of steel. 

'If HE'S nervous...' Cryn decided to follow whatever instructions were given. 'Well, almost any instructions.' She was annoyed at her sense of humor in such a pressing situation. 

The next sound was an aching groan, followed by a violent shaking of the ground. 

Jareth didn't waste a moment; he bolted ahead, Cryn in tow. As they were running, he let go of her arm and motioned her to break out into all out running stride. Cryn felt the nest of butterflies move into her stomach and ran with all her might behind Jareth. How on earth she was able to keep up with him, she would never know, but one look behind her shook her being to the very core. 

At first, she didn't see anything in the darkness and space, but then a huge and transparent whirlwind distorted the whole room behind her. The very center was black. No light could escape it, and it was moving! Though it's transparent walls she could still make out deformed areas of the room, but it's defining groan engulfed any cry she may have uttered. The whirlwind was swaying side to side, bending all it touched, swallowing that which reached it's black center. 

The machine the whirlwind was positioned at shook with death throes. The gears that had touched the transparent sides were deformed into totally new structures. Cryn couldn't tell if the whirlwind was changing the machine, or eating it. 

Cryn couldn't believe her eyes. She jerked her head around to find Jareth further ahead. She had lost a lot of ground. A wave of panic pumped additional adrenaline to her legs and lungs, forcing her on to save her life. 

"Go," she repeatedly puffed to herself. 

Cryn was sure that if that... thing, the whirlwind, was after them, they would have had no hope, but it seemed to stay were it had entered the room, and even subsided in it's groaning. On the other side of the the machine room, it almost was insensible. Cryn suspected that it might have disappeared. 

Jareth stopped near the exit of the room, hardly breathing heavy. Cryn herself reached him not long after, and was only slightly more winded. She stopped and was suprised to find she still had remaining energy. She couldn't understand it! She certianly wasn't in that good of shape just days before when traversing the maze! Cryn looked at Jareth with a puzzled expression. He merely smiled a rather knowing smile and opened the thin but tall door, gesturing with his hand for her to go first. 

As she passed by him, she shot him a suspicious glare from the corner of her eye. But he only put one gloved finger to his lips and winked. 

'Grrrr.' 

As she stepped into the adjoining room, Jareth slipped in and closed the door behind them, plunging them into darkness. Cryn almost cried out, another wave of panic. She did not want to be abandoned! But the soft feel of leather over her mouth sparked both relief and rage. She could feel her cheeks burning with a foreshadow of their next conversation. 

But that all drained away as the hand directed her head in an upward direction. 

Cryn nearly fell over with emotion. There was no room, at least, to the naked eye. 

As she gazed up, she could make out the faintest tint of a glowing blue mixed into some dark purple. A single star burned it's silver light brilliantly in the center. The room seemed to acknowledge their presence, and the ceiling darkened into black velvet. Another star peaked out to her left, then another, and another, until the whole ceiling, or sky, was abuzz with silver activity. 

Jareth removed his hand from her mouth and let her head move of it's own free will. She followed it's movement back to him and locked her eyes on his, a million questions expressed plainly across her face. The left corner of his mouth moved up, along with the left eyebrow and he looked off into the distance past her shoulder. 

She turned along his gaze and inhaled sharply as she found the whole room to be surronded by space and stars. She whipped her head back to Jareth for an explanation, but he again looked past her, urging her to turn again to his gaze. She turned again to find a bloated red giant star spinning furiously before her. She scanned about, feeling a strong sense of dejavu, and stretched her hand out to touch the star. Her hand turned transparent and dipped into the red sphere. She instinctually curled her hand into a fist, and was rewarded by the sun expanding in size to engulf both her and Jareth. A gust of breeze caressed her. 

The alien currents of plasma and fire cursed coolly around her in a blaze of red and yellow light. She couldn't see Jareth, but vaguely knew he was still there. Her eyes glazed over with the sheer beauty and awesome emotion of it all. She guessed she was still in the upper atmosphere of the star, but knew she would die of beauty if she tried to look further into the star. Human eyes had never seen such phenomena before. She reluctantly uncurled her fist. 

The star shrank past her and returned to its initial size. Cryn sighed with the loss of such beautiful light. 

She turned to the left of the star and searched for something her mind knew was there. She focused upon a planet, not far from the red giant. A rocky, desolate place burned by the sun on the dayside, and frozen from its neglect on the night side. It reminded her of Mercury, but held little interest. 

Next, she found a sister system. Two planets, orbiting around one another, both orbiting the red sun. They shared three moons, all of which had complicated orbits between the two. The bigger planet seemed to dance in orbit between the sun and the smaller planet, keeping her sister in constant shadow. Cryn shuddered at the thought of a world with such little light. 

A part of her wanted to study the sisters up close, but her mind urged her on to look for something else. She turned from the twins, allowing for them to slip back into space and their appropiate orbits, and searched for the third orbiting body. 

'This is what you were searching for,' her mind spoke quietly. 

She reached out with both hands and found a third planet with one perfect sphere moon. It's coloring dramatic and it's aura fantastic. It's atmosphere illuminated the planet with a halo, and it's oceans where a deep purple and red, reflecting the color of it's unique atmosphere. There was one dominant landmass, stretching from pole to pole, covering about an eighth of the planet with various island clusters on either side. As the world turned however, the land mass revealed that it ran full circumference around the planet with more islands flanking either side. 

Cryn also saw faint veins running through the vast oceans, and interconnecting bubbles far out from land. 

'How interesting,' she thought. 

She moved her right hand inside the planet and closed it into a fist. The planet immediately responded and she was placed about a half mile above the ground. Curiously, she was right above the spot she landed outside the labyrinth after spending the night with Grandfather. 'Did I spend the night with Grandfather?' It troubled her that she couldn't recall. 

Pushing the thought aside, she saw the mountain range she first viewed, far more inland than where the Labyrinth stood. She studied the walls that were in ruin and how they grew progressively into the monstrosity of the maze she traversed. It was far larger than she suspected. Her eyes opened with a realization. 

"I didn't travel all of that!" 

"No, you didn't." 

Cryn did not let go of her fist, or even turn her body. She had briefly forgotten about Jareth, but only nodded in reply. He walked, well... floated actually, into her view and gestured with his hand at corresponding places in the labyrinth. 

"You entered here, My Dear, and made your way to this stream. Quite impressive actually. Few who have wandered into the labyrinth never even get far enough to reach the water." He was fluid with his praise, but stated it more like a nonchalant fact. The stream he pointed to was indeed very artificial. Cryn traced its path to its geometric intersections spreading out from the center castle and ending quite inward from the starting walls. 

"Then," he continued, "You were transported here." His hand moved over a significant portion of the Labyrinth to somewhere quite close in proximity to the castle. Cryn nodded. 

"Of course, I'm sure you remember the rest." 

He seemed content not to explain the last part of her journey, either out of respect or impatience. She suspected the latter, but said nothing. 

"Did you transport me?" She asked honestly. 

"No." 

Cryn nodded again and let go of her fist. The world shrunk back to it's original size and then back into the background of space. 

"You watched me though." 

"Yes." 

Jareth was studing her intently now. She might have squirmed, but at that moment, she didn't care. Once more she looked out into the depths of space and drank in the beauty of its vast unknown and ancient mystery. She let herself float around, literally rotating on an x-plane axis. She stopped when directly upside down with respect to Jareth, but gravity still felt to her like she was right side up. She was delighted to find that she could manuver herself quite free of normal gravity. It was as if her orientation changed with her. 

This room gave her a thrill and a happiness she had never known. The possibilities for knowledge were limitless! It put her at ease, and familiarity. She had been there before. 

Jareth motioned her back up. She bent her head sideways at him, but still complied. As she did so, her stomach once again growled its presence. 

"My Dear, if you'd be so kind as to accompany me once again to the dinning hall?" Jareth held out his arm again, and Cryn took it in hers willingly.   
He didn't grip it as before, but instead only guided her to the other side of space. 

Cryn was still deep in thought, processing all the new information. Perhaps a daze was more accurate of her condition. She just followed her host without question or hesitation.   


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	12. Purpose ch. 11

  


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**Chapter 11**

The rest of their travels through the castle were quiet and unevenful. Through Cryn's ponderings she guessed that they had traveled a good two miles of winding passageways and hallways. 

Yet, since she had experienced the 'planetarium' her mind began to open up to memories she had lost. In her remembrances, she hardly paid any attention to the castle or Jareth. For better or worse, she put an amazing amount of trust into her host. A part of her realized her actions and did protest a little, but Cryn just didn't care. 

In the gift shop, a memory she recalled clearly now, he had not hurt her. He had shown her, what she now knew to be, the Labyrinth, and had helped her immensly with a few simple necessities. He had taken her to the planetarium for another test. She sensed that she had passed. It certianly explained why Jareth hadn't just waved his hand and transported them to the dinning hall. He wanted her to see, at the very least, the planetarium, and perhaps the rest of the monstrocity. It also explained why he escorted her so tightly. She would have been lost for ages if her curiosity (or a bolt of panic) lead her down the winding passages. 

Walking for so long in the silent gloom gave her a new perspective on Jareth's presense as well. He _was_ the guy with the magical powers, and since he didn't pose any obvious threat, it probably was a good idea to stick close. Especially since he wouldn't let anything happen to her... at least until her debt to him is paid. 

But that too was an uncomfortable thought. Though, she did have an idea of what he would ask. He was curious about the 'spirit' that had been calling to her. After the planetarium, even memories of sleep had awakened to her. Perhaps he knew more about it, being on another planet and all with technology that could unravel the universe's mysteries, as well as a distint knowlege of 'magic' or whatever it was he possesed. And aside from the playful jibs he threw at her, he had been a gentleman, and a gracious host. 

'Except for the appearing out of nowhere my bedroom.' 

That played into another characteristic of him. 'Perhaps he likes the intimidation, or the control of surprise.' 

'Or another interest all together.' 

Her faced warmed a little with that thought. As gracious as her host might be, there would still have to be a line drawn in definition of their relationship. 

And with that thought, they had entered the grandest hall yet. The Dinning Hall. 

The room was so large, it literally took on perspective changes when looking down the length of the hall. Rich tapestries spanned every other wall pannel, with curvy designs in a shinny metal in between. The design pattern was one Cryn had seen throughout the castle, on doors, ceilings, walls, and tapestries. She made a mental note to her long list, to ask Jareth about it. 

The chandeliers were suspened without support, and they bobbed up and down in relatively confined positions. The ceiling was divided into sections of round cross beams, with a black and royal blue background, and stars that twinkled with their own light. At the top of the surrounding walls, but above the tapestries and patterns, the starry ceiling spread down into various landscapes. There were forests and deserts, mountians, and underwater enviornments. There were cities and farmlands, industrial looking areas and places of construction. It was breathtakingly beautiful. 

Jareth allowed Cryn to gape without taunt, and guided her to the end of the single, room lengthed table. It was peculiar though, since there was room enough between the walls and the table to have four people walk side by side, there were no doors save the massive entry. The table itself was of a rich dark brown wood, detailed with carvings of gold and silver. 

The inner part of the table was missing, and there were several openings in the floor with stairs leading down into darkness. There was enough room for another four people to walk side by side within the table! Cryn marveled at the design. 

When they finally reached the end, she spied two place settings positioned kity corner with the two end chairs. He pulled out an immaculate chair and motioned for her to sit. She wondered if the prankster would pull the chair out from underneath her. He didn't. 

When he settled himself down, she wondered how dinner was to proceed. She was more than hungry, she was starving. He smiled as her stomach growled again. 

"My Dear, you innards seem to have more willingness to talk than your mind." 

"Well, I haven't exactly been eating like a King the last three days." 

Jareth laughed at that, a genuine laugh. "Three days?" he questioned. "My Dear, you slept in that bed for one of your weeks!" 

Cryn went pale, "What." 

"Yes, quite a heavy sleeper. Silent though, no awful human nasal sounds or tossing and turning. You'd make a marvelous bed mate." 

If Cryn hadn't been so shocked, at both her sleeping for seven days, and then Jareth's remark, she might have retorted. Though the only thing she did do was stare at him with an open mouth. She looked like a tard. 

He seemed to enjoy her reaction, and elegantly reached for his goblet. He took a sip, but looked over his wine at his speechless guest with a wrinkle at his eye. 

Her mind responded in an odd fashion. 'At least he has no interest in bedding you, since, a man who would be trying, would NOT be so damn insulting!' Besides, Cryn was sure that Jareth could make any woman he wanted melt into his arms, why jab unless he was totally sadistic? 

Finally, Cryn narrowed her eye lids, resisting the urge to slap him. She wouldn't play his game. 

"Well, I've been told so before, but by much more enjoyable company." It would have been better if she had spoken earlier, but alass, her mind was still in shock. 

"Hummmm. I'm sure," he lazily replied. 

"Anyway, what's on the menu? I will surley die of starvation if we hold here for a moment longer." 

"What is it with you, that you only speak to make requests about..." He held up his hands to count on them. "Food, water, shelter or verbal insults? Haven't you ever socialized before?" 

'What does this guy want?' Cryn was puzzled. 'To make me burst with rage?' 

"Well, perhaps if my host would be as generous to not _bait_ me into such spurs, I'd be more of a pleasant guest." 

"Perhaps." 

She was caught off guard with his concession of her point. But he continued before she could respond, "but couldn't you agree that there is more in life than basic necessities?" He seemed to be setting her up, but Cryn chided herself for not seeing it. 

Cryn looked down at her empty plate, but jerked her head up before he could make another sly statement about her animal necessity comming before his intellectual question. 

"I agree." 

"Wonderful." He clasped his gloved hands together, "than you will have no reservations in telling me all that you've been experiencing as of late." 

She made a mental note not to take verbal phrases for granted. 

"Is this my payment? My tellings of what has been so wierd in my life?" 

"Ahhhh, my dear. Compared to your dreams, you haven't even begun to experience what awaits you here." 

She straightened at that. 'He knows why I'm here?' 

"So you know!" She wanted to stand up and stick her finger at him. "You know what's been in my head?! Why? Why is this happening? What is this? Why am I here? And most importantly, WHERE AM I?" 

He leaned back into his chair and regarded her with a little less patience than before. 

"Cathryn..." It was the first time he actually said her name, and his tone quieted any more out bursts from her. 

"As you asked me those once questions before, I can not help you. I myself am not sure, whatever my suspicions may be. And all I ask of you, is for you to tell me the details of your experiences in return for your asked services. I ask for so little." 

He had all the countance of a king at that moment, not to mention a parent. She felt rightly chided. 

She nodded in agreement, and lowered her eyes to her plate. 

"Well, if it IS all you can think about..." he gestured with his head to her plate, "then I suppose I'll have to feed you before any further progress can be made." 

Cryn let out a puff of air and a small smile. She looked up, and pushing her pride aside said, "thanks." 

Jareth leaned back in his chair, taking goblet, he shook his head once with an eyebrow uplifted. "Your kind is so... emotional. One minute, perfectly civil, and the next, KABOOM!" He gestured with his arms at the kaboom part. 

Cryn wanted to giggle at his use of 'KABOOM' but wondered what he meant by 'her kind.' 

"What do you mean.... my kind?" She tried to ask sweetly, but didn't know how successful she was. 

"Females, of course. Especially you _humans_. I can't imagine any of your males actually living with any of you." 

"I had to ask." Cryn spoke aloud, but mostly to herself. 

"Okay, okay. Truce." She wanted to get off the sparring. Especially since she wasn't winning. 

"Why? It is such a jolly good time." Jareth said in a very sarcastic and patronizing way. 

"Can I have some..." she thought for a moment about taking certian phrases for granted and continued, " _edible_ food, now? And none of this wine crap." 

"My my, isn't there an appropiate please at the end of a request?" 

"OKAY! I tried to make piece. I tried, just a few seconds ago, to answer any of your questions. AND EVEN YOU brought to attention that this verbal sparring is petty and useless! So, I humbly apologize for all transgressions I've made to you in any way, and I _graciously_ thank you for your kind hospitality. So can we now eat? Please?" 

Jareth hadn't flinched at her second trip to the soap box, but calmly regarded her with an amused stare. 

"My dear, Cathryn, I never said our chats were petty and useless, and if fact, I quite enjoy them. Lack of company makes one appreciate _any_ company." 

"Do you know how infuriating you are?" Cryn asked very seriously. It wasn't a sarcastic question in the least, she actually wanted to know if he knew. 

He sighed with a smile at the corner of his eye. "Only when in the presence of my fan base." 

Cryn shook her head. 

"Well my dear. How about some dinner. I suspect that you are somewhat famished after your week of fasting." 

Cryn nodded. 

"I hope you haven't gone mute, we still have your payment to be presented." 

Cryn sighed and replied, "ask away." 

Jareth waved his hand and both of their plates filled with edible goodies. Though, it didn't look familiar to Cryn. 

"Let us at least munch whilist you share." 

Cryn shook her head again. 'There is just no end.' 

"First thing is first..." she used a utensil that looked kind of like a fork, and probed at the various substances that had appeared on her plate, "what _is_ all of this?" 

Jareth had alread started to nibble on his plate. He glanced over at what she was pointing at. Then turned to her with his usual superiority. 

"Don't tell me you think that just because you came from Earth means that I'm going to change my diet for yours." 

Cryn hadn't thought of the food being different, though it made perfect sense. 

"What if I have a food allergy? I don't even know what kind of being you are, even if you do look like a male, I have no idea what kind of physiology you contain nor what kind of food is compatible!" 

"Well, look at it this way, My Dear. What choice have you got?" 

Cryn thought about that and then realized that if she did die due to some unknown poision, then at least Jareth wouldn't get any more information out of her. 

She took a cautious bite of some blue leafy stuff. It wasn't bad, kind of like a cross between lettuce and fruit. The other substances on her plate weren't to bad either, except for the extreamly spicy yellow stuff. Cryn downed a whole goblet of water in one drink after just a small amount of that stuff. She didn't look to Jareth for his reaction. 

After testing all of her alotted meal, her stomach broke her hesitance and she began to eat all of it in a rather hasty manner. Even the wierd stuff that seemed to remind her of a type of strange meat. 

While eating, she herself went over the events of her immediate past. There was no harm in telling him everything. It wasn't like he was going to tell her she was crazy. 

So, at the end of the meal, when the soiled dishes were wisked away, she decieded to be agreeable tell all. 

Hopefully _he_ wouldn't do anything else to piss her off. Hopefully. 

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End file.
